Gears, Grace and graduation

BY ANDREW UTTERBACK / Multimedia Journalist

A friend sent me an Instagram Reel a while ago about a cool 4th gen Ford Mustang. It was by an account called the Covert Garage, and it had over 300k views and over 30k likes. 
 

A few weeks later, I sat down and talked to Ethan Bratton, a senior who graduates this semester from Tarleton State University. He’s a friend I met at a Paradigm worship night, a business owner/content creator/future pastor and just so happens to also own the Covert Garage. Small world. 
 

Ethan grew up in Round Rock, Texas and graduated from Round Rock High School, where he was the president of the fishing team. At that point in his life, he wanted to be a professional fisherman. That’s how he found out about Tarleton. 
 

Ethan is a car enthusiast and his first time seeing Tarleton in person was the day he bought his truck. 
 

“We bought my truck in Comanche. It was my dad’s truck at the time, and we came down, bought it, and said hey, we’re so close to Tarleton, let’s just swing by,” Ethan said. 
 

He went back and did a college tour in November of his senior year and said everyone he met was “super nice” and he loved the size of Tarleton. 
 

“It wasn’t too big, but it was big enough. I was a UT fan. Hook ‘em, right? But I didn’t wanna go to a school as big as UT. It wasn’t my thing, and Tarleton was just the right size for me,” Ethan said. 
 

Ethan started out college majoring in agribusiness. He grew up working on his grandma’s farm and didn’t want to work behind a desk all day, so the agriculture path made sense at the time. 
 

Eventually, he dropped the agribusiness and added a minor in marketing to help with the social media content creation which he was working. He came back for a master’s in communications. 
 

Ethan is the founder of Covert Garage where he sells magnetic license plate covers as well as merch. The business expanded into a  YouTube channel where he films everything from car builds to autocross runs. 
 

“More recently, it’s transitioned into a more faith based company. So, our mission statement is to use our love of cars to further God’s kingdom. So we still have the license plate covers and all that, but we now have faith based automotive apparel,” Ethan said. 
 

By the time he graduates, Ethan will have been at Tarleton for almost six years. 
 

“It’s crazy how much [Tarleton] has grown just in the time I’ve been here” Ethan said. “Even [Stephenville]  in general. You look at everything that’s new, like the Hobby Lobby, Poseidon; that whole shopping center was not here when I came here. My buddy Jacob’s parents came to Tarleton in the 90s and when they were here, you could still drive down the roads in Tarleton that are all blocked off.”
 

Ethan is optimistic about the record breaking growth that Tarleton is seeing, but says that parking and housing need to improve to accommodate all of the new students. 
 

“We have to have the infrastructure for it,” Ethan said. 
 

During his time on campus, Ethan competed on the track team where he is featured on Tarleton’s all-time top-10 record book in four events as well as being named to the Academic All-WAC team in two seasons.    
 

He was also a student athlete during the COVID-19 pandemic. 
 

“Every day would get our temperature taken before we could go in the weight room. So we’d have to get there at five in the morning to go to the trainers, get our  temperature taken, get a wristband that says we’re good and then we can go to the weight room and start working out,” Ethan said.  
 

Ethan saw this time as the perfect moment to start his business. 
 

“I don’t like saying ‘oh life sucks.’ So I said, ‘sweet, well, I’m gonna start this business.’ I made the most of it. One of my favorite quotes is ‘if you have the courage to create your own conditions, the rain is just rain,’” Ethan said. 
 

Ethan’s plans after college will prominently feature his business. 
 

“I’ve seen a lot of growth in unexpected ways this year. Now, the business has grown [and] honoring God is its main goal. That’s the most important thing to me. Yes, I want it to be super successful, but if it can impact the life of just one person, then that’s more important to me than making a million dollars,” Ethan said. 
 

Ethan said his business is his primary focus right now, his long term goal is ministry. 
 

“Being a pastor was never on the radar, I hated speaking in front of people, I didn’t raise my hand in class. That kind of just took a 180,” Ethan said. 
 

Ethan and his fiancée Hallie Thomas get married two weeks after they graduate. They both are planning to start a college ministry similar to Paradigm. They will move to whatever city the ministry leads them.
 

Ethan will continue his YouTube channel and content creation even while pastoring. He hopes to eventually be able to hire enough people to run the business full time, so he can just check in a few times a week and focus on ministry. His goal is to make enough money to not take payment from the church he pastors. 
 

“That would be the dream. Where I don’t have to be influenced by money at all in my ministry, and it’s just purely for God, doing what God called me to do. If I can devote my entire pastor salary into supporting the ministry, doing things in the community, and putting on events, then that would be great. That’s the ultimate goal,” Ethan said. 
 

Ethan’s advice to new freshmen is to watch the kinds of people they hang out with. 
 

“You’re gonna run into people who are part of the wrong crowd and you don’t want to be a part of that crowd. Don’t be scared to stop hanging out with those people. I’ve gained so many friends in my time in college. I’ve also had to lose some because they were just going down the wrong path and trying to drag me with them. Sometimes you have to be willing to cut people out of your life for that,” Ethan said. 
 

He also says to have fun, but the right kind of fun. 
 

“The other thing is to have fun, right? Don’t be scared. 2 Timothy 1:7- ‘The Lord did not give you a spirit of fear, but one of power, love and sound judgment.’ Go live life and do it in a way that reflects your character in a good way,” Ethan said. “I try to always do things that represent Jesus in a good way, right? If I’m gonna bear His name as a Christian, then I’m gonna try to bear his attitudes and actions as well. Enjoying college doesn’t mean you have to get stuck in the wrong crowd.” 
 

Ethan said he is thankful for his friends, family and fiancée for their help through his college journey. 
 

“My fiancée, she’s been a big part of the last year-and-a-half of my life, getting me through grad school. She helped bring out the call to ministry that I have now,” Ethan said. 
 

He also thanked his family for coming to his track meets, encouraging him to keep going and supporting him through all of college. He also thanked Jesus, saying He was the reason he came back for a masters degree. 
 

“It just occurred to me, maybe God has me where he wants me. That’s when I came back for my master’s degree and because of that, I met most of the people who I consider some of my closest friends,” Ethan said. 
 

Ethan’s message to the world would be that God made you for more. 
 

“God loves us so much. He cares for us and we are made to be more than we could ever imagine. I never thought I would be where I am now, so just know that as you go throughout your life, God has big plans for you. Jeremiah 29:11, right? He’s got big, good plans for you. All it takes is a little bit of obedience and a little bit of faith,” Ethan said. “Rejoice in the hardships and then the most difficult things in your life just become things, right? Don’t take life too seriously. Have fun. Laugh at the mistakes. Don’t beat yourself up. Have grace on others and have grace on yourself too.”